As Fate Would Have It
by orangesunset12
Summary: "But... what would I do without you?" When Dick wakes up in his old circus bed, he's inclined to think something's a little strange. But when he finds his parents alive, and Batman non-existent, it's up to him to find a way to get back home- and put his family back together again.
1. Once Upon A Time

_A flash of light, and then... nothing._

* * *

Dick opened his eyes.

Above him, the metal ceiling was covered in posters and stickers. Little stars decorated the corners, and in the center was a big poster displaying three smiling faces. The Flying Graysons.

 _Where am I?_

He pushed aside his blanket wearily. His arms were aching, slightly sore from last night's performance. He had only practiced the manever a few times before being thrust on stage, so he was understandably not ready for it.

 _That's not what happened. That's not what I did last night_.

Dick groaned, rubbing his head. Something inside of his brain was hurting. It was like two blocks colliding together, a loud ringing sound buzzing inside his ears. He'd have to talk to Dr. Ayres about it.

"Dick?"

A woman peered around the frame of his door. She was in her late fifties, grey hair starting to show- but her bright blue eyes betrayed her burning spirit.

 _Who is she?_

"You okay?" She came closer, sitting on the edge of his mattress. "That was a great show last night."

"Yeah, it was." Dick grinned. "I'm fine, mom."

Dick's mother kissed him on the forehead. "I know, sweetie. I'm just worried about you, like I always am. You're growing up so fast..."

"Where's dad?"

"With Mr. Haly." She let out a chuckle. "Even in his old age, he wants to set up the show."

"Huh." Dick sat up. There was a feeling- a wrongness- sitting on his chest. It made it hard to breathe. "Where's Br-" a name escaped him. "Where's Br... Bryan?"

 _This is wrong._

"Bryan's with Raya and the others," she said, smoothing his hair. He swatted it away out of habit. "You feeling good enough to join them?"

"I'm fine. I am." Dick pressed his hand to his temple. "Just have a headache, that's all."

"Did you sleep well?"

"Um... I think so. I had a dream."

"Was it a good dream?"

Dick frowned, trying to remember. "I don't know... I can't remember it."

She smiled. "Well, you're awake now. No need to trouble yourself with things you can't remember."

"Okay." He smiled back. "Back to reality I go, I guess."

 _No..._ _Where did my world go?_

* * *

Dick sat in the stands, leaning his head back against a pole. The rest of the day had been as strange as waking up. All day things had been the same, and yet, different.

He couldn't decide whether it was the world that had changed, or him.

"Dick?"

Raya walked over to him. Being sort-of-maybe girlfriend and boyfriend was strange, sure- but today something else was off.

Whenever he saw her, he kept on thinking he should be with someone else.

"Hey, Raya."

The buzzing in his head had grown worse. The pain ceased to hurt him, but the buzzing got louder, and sometimes Dick thought he could hear a voice.

Bats. Night. Brothers. Words that made no sense to him at all.

 _Please listen to me._

Raya frowned at him. "Is something wrong? You've been acting strange all morning."

Dick shrugged helplessly. "I don't know. Something's been off today, but I don't know what it is."

She slid closer to him, putting her hand on his. "Maybe I could help things feel right again."

He immediately flinched away. A name fluttered across his mind.

Barbara. Who was she?

"Dick?!" Raya withdrew her hand, confused and hurt. "What... What did I do?"

"Nothing! It's just..."

 _You're not her. Where did she go?_

"Hey lovebirds," called a voice, "if you're not too busy, we need a little help clearing up."

Raya stood up silently. He could see the hurt in her eyes, brimming over with confusion. His heart sank.

He growled and tried to stop the voice in his head. It was messing him up, tripping him in places he didn't think to look. He gritted his teeth and ignored the insistent pleading, of words that sounded like 'family' and 'help' and 'home again'.

"Coming, Bryan," he called. Dick flipped down the bleachers and landed perfectly on his feet. "Where are we packing up to?"

Bryan threw him a look of surprise. "Have you forgotten already? We've been talking about this for weeks!"

Raya said nothing.

"I... um, kind of have a bad memory right now," Dick said sheepishly.

Bryan laughed. "Well, you'd better prepare soon. As I recall, you were more excited than I was to go there. Said you wanted to see what people call 'Hell's Pit'."

"Hell's Pit?"

Mr Haly, Bryan's father, came towards them. Beside them was Dick's father, holding him by the arm.

"Sup, chum," Dick's father grinned.

 _This is not my father._

"Hey dad. Are you going to tell me where we're going?"

Mr Haly let out a laugh. "You've forgotten? Well, that isn't like you, Dick."

Dick's father ruffled his son's hair.

"Dick," he said, "we're going to Gotham."

* * *

 _In the anger of light there is nothing to see._

 _But there is a voice, calling out to me._

 _Everything is about to change..._

* * *

 **Hey everyone! I hope you enjoyed this chapter, the first chapter in this new story! This is my first attempt at a really plot-based story (besides that awful Percy Jackson story)- but I'm still more comfortable with character, so the plot might be a bit shaky. Anyway, I know this chapter was short, but I do hope you come with me on this new journey! As always, like, follow, or review! Oh, and if you have any ideas/requests, don't hesitate to PM me!**

 **Thanks again!**


	2. When I Lost You

_Are we... going home?_

* * *

The caravan bumped as it jostled its way through unpaved pathways. Beside them, trees sped by like blurs, branches occasionally scratching against the windows.

Screeeeeech. Screeeeeech. Like nails against a wooden coffin.

"Dick, honey," his mom called from the passenger's seat. "You okay?"

Dick's head shot up at his name. "I'm fine, mom. Promise."

"Raya tells me you've been acting strange. Is it because of that headache you told me about?"

Dick smiled slightly. Of course, his mother would remember that throwaway comment. Sometimes, he didn't know what he would do without her.

-...I don't know either. I never knew.-

"Yeah, well, Raya was exaggerating. I'm just... excited, that's all."

And he was. At the sound of the name Gotham his heart had skipped a beat. And the voice inside his head grew louder, almost too loud, and he had had to sit down.

But it didn't make sense- he had never been to Gotham before. Sure, they had planned for a trip when he was a kid, but the crime rates had turned Mr. Haly away from the dark streets. He'd said there could've been accidents (whatever that meant.)

But somehow, Gotham seemed familiar. Like...

 _Home._

"Home," Dick murmured, somewhat by accident.

"Hmm?" His dad asked. "Did you say something?"

Dick blinked in surprise. "What? N-no." He put his head between his arms again. The other voice was growing too loud...

Suddenly, the caravan pulled to a stop. Around them the other caravans parked too, some carrying tents and poles, others just carrying people. The colors on them looked very stark against the darkness before them.

Dick looked into the black city.

"Well," his father said, "welcome to Gotham."

* * *

He slung his bag over one shoulder. They walked tightly in one pack, as if they feared they would just disappear once they were left behind. But Dick felt safe.

He knew, if he were in trouble, someone would save him.

But who?

 _He will always save me._

Dick's father gripped his hand tightly.

"Dad," Dick laughed, "I can take care of myself."

"There are strange stories about here..."

"That's what they are. Stories. Criminals wouldn't dare touch us in such a big group!"

Dick's father shook his head. "Criminals aren't the worst of it. I'm talking vigilantes."

Vigilantes?

 _...Vigilantes?_

"Oh, come on, that's just a myth!" The contortionist scoffed.

"What vigilantes?" Dick asked.

Raya shook her head. "Just some stories about a dark shadow that flits about at night, taking down thugs and bad guys."

"Not just some stories," Bryan defended. "It's real. Crime in Gotham has gone down for the first time in decades. Why do you think my dad allowed us to come here now?"

"It's not all good things. There's been a rise in costumed freaks around here as well."

"Costumed freaks? You're one to talk, Jimmy!"

The conversation drifted off to another topic, mostly about Jimmy's sad love life and his sad clown life as well. Normally Dick would've joined in, but his mind was elsewhere.

He looked to the rooftops.

In the back of his mind, in the front of his eyes, he saw the image of a great black shadow watching the horizon. Behind it, was a little red-and-yellow blur.

And then they were gone.

* * *

They arrived at the site where they were going to set up. Trees ringed the edges, all sorts of dark and shadowy forest-types- Dick had never seen such trees before. His feet longed to climb them.

They split up in groups and went to work on setting up the tents. Dick was busy helping his parents put in the poles, but his mind was almost going haywire. Something about this place they were in was making him sick.

He almost remembered it...

 _I lost everything here._

And he felt sad, as sad as you could be when you had no idea why you were sad, but he also felt incredibly angry.

Someone had taken this away from him. And he couldn't even remember what he was missing.

 _I lost everything here. But it was here that I found you._

"Dick?"

He shook himself out of his reverie. "Yeah, mom?"

"Mr. Haly wants us to meet the police commissioner," his mom replied.

"Police commissioner?"

"He's not taking any chances. I think you already know about the state of crime in Gotham."

Treading down a hastily made path, he wound his way to where the Big Top was being set up. He could see Mr. Haly standing next to a man in a police uniform. The sun glinted of his glasses.

He wiped his hands of his jeans to look slightly more presentable, and jogged down to meet them.

"-our best," the policeman said, as Dick drew nearer. "There's no guarantee that we'll be able to keep your circus entirely safe, but we hope to."

"Ah, commmissioner, no need to be so serious! We'll have a few extra safety precautions- after all, we have more than a few strong men!"

Mr. Haly let out a belly laugh, before noticing Dick on the sidelines.

"Dick, my boy! Come and meet Gotham's police commissioner. He'll be helping us stay safe."

Dick looked at the police commissioner, and his stomach dropped. The voice inside his head went crazy.

 _Ask him to help me! Ask him to help!_

A vague memory flitted in his mind, as brief as the images on the roof. A conversation that he never had filtered into his ears.

 _"Who's this?"_

 _"This is Gotham's police commissioner, James Gordon."_

 _"Is he nice?"_

 _A laugh sounded, low and grumbly, because he was using his other voice. "He's nicer than me at any rate, chum. Don't worry about him. He's one of the only people in this city I trust."_

 _"Oh. ...You trust me though, don't you?"_

 _The laugh was heard again, but this time, it was light. His real voice. "Of course I do, Robin. I'll always trust you."_

"-Richard? Dick?"

Dick blinked his way out of his brief lapse. He felt a hint of regret, at not being able to stay. He seemed happy there.

"Sorry," he blushed. "I was... thinking of something else."

"Well, as I was saying, this is Commissioner-"

"Gordon," Dick blurted out. "James Gordon... right?"

Commissioner Gordon looked at him appraisingly. "Do I know you?"

 _Yes._

"No. I just, um... I guessed."

"You guessed?"

Dick felt unnervingly uncomfortable. Because he remembered this man- maybe not exactly, because he knows he never met him- but this man did not know him.

Maybe he _was_ going crazy...

Mr. Haly clapped his hands together. "Well, we'd better get back to work, shouldn't we? Your parents are with Raya working on the trapeze, and they could probably use your expertise. As for me, I'd better see what Bryan's up to. He better not be flirting with Seraphina again." He winked at Dick, then trotted off to where Bryan was laying groundwork.

Dick swallowed a lump in his throat. He felt like he was being scrutinized under a magnifying glass.

"I... um... hi."

Commissioner Gordon raised an eyebrow. "Hi," he responded, not unkindly.

"You're a police officer?"

"I am," he said. "How did you guess?"

Dick blushed even further, but he grinned. People with a sense of humour can't be that bad.

"Do you... um, do you know anything about... vigilantes?"

The commissioner's face suddenly shifted, and Dick felt like he had stepped on a landmine.

"Why do you-"

"Dad!"

Both heads snapped upwards to the source of the voice. Standing to the left was a girl, around Dick's age, bright red hair tied up in a ponytail. The sun shone behind her, casting an orange-gold hue around everything.

Dick's heart pumped painfully in his chest.

"Barbara!"

The girl threw her arms around Commissioner Gordon.

"I told you to wait in the car."

"You were taking so long," she sighed, "I just wanted to check-"

Her words died in her throat as she locked eyes with Dick. For a moment, a scene drifted in his head of both of them. She had her head on his shoulder, and was saying something.

 _"Promise me you'll see me again."_

"Barbara, this is Dick Grayson, one of the trapeze artists in Haly's Circus. And this is my daughter Barbara Gordon." Her father looked between them. "Well, I guess I'll leave you two alone..."

He slipped away, and still, neither said a word.

"...Hi."

She folded her arms across her chest, in a gesture like self-defence. "Hi."

 _I found you._

What could he say? Do I know you? Have I met you?

Do you know me?

"Do you like computers?"

She raised her eyebrows. "Is that your form of a pick-up line?"

"No," he corrected hastily. "It's just you look smart."

"I look smart."

"Right." His face felt hot. What was it about her that made it so hard to speak? "Well... do you?"

She smiled slightly. "Maybe."

"It's just, growing up in a circus and all, I never really grew up around computers."

"I'm guessing you didn't grow up around girls, either."

"What? N-no! There's Raya and-"

"I'm kidding," Barbara laughed, putting her hands up. "I'm the daughter of a detective. I would notice if there were girls around here."

"Yeah..." Dick swallowed. There was a twisting in his gut, and the voice was trying to tell him something.

She had the answers he needed. Of why the world was so strange.

 _Does she remember me too?_

The sun was lowering in the hills. Barbara looked over to the horizon, and slowly shook her head.

"I have to go," she said. She smiled. "It's nice to meet you, Dick Grayson."

"It's nice to meet you too, Barbara Gordon."

She turned to leave.

"Wait!" Dick called. His voice rang out in the empty space. "Promise me you'll see me again."

She threw a look back, and in that very moment, he could see it in her eyes. The memory. It was real.

"I promise," Barbara replied, her voice shaking.

Then she disappeared into the sun.

* * *

 _Before I found you, I was lost_

 _After I met you, I was found_

 _And then I lost you, and then I lost you_

 _And then I lost you..._

* * *

 **Hey guys, I'm back! I hope you liked the second chapter of As Fate Would Have It. The italics are either what I would call 'Dick's second voice' or flashbacks to Dick's, well, real life. So do the usual- like, follow, and/or review! Thanks to those who have done these things, you always make my day. For now, have a good day/night!**


	3. As If I'm Coming Home

_I am not alone._

* * *

Dick was sitting in the newly set up stands. Brightly painted balls sat in his hands, of which he was supposed to juggle, but unfortunately all of Seraphina's efforts had thus far failed. He had never been as quick with his hands than he was with his legs, even on the trapeze. It had been that way his entire life- almost a reminder that some things never changed.

"Dick?"

He started, dropping the balls. They bounced down the stands, up and down and up and down, until they rolled to a spot in the middle of the Big Top. It looked a little lonely.

"Oh, Raya," he breathed. "Hey. You scared me."

"I guess I must've."

She took a seat next to him. "Dick... What's been happening with you?"

"What? What are you talking about?"

She snorted. "Oh come on. You've been acting strange ever since we went to Gotham! You've barely been around! Where have you been?"

"Oh, um..."

Dick gulped. Him and Raya had never been officially dating, but it had been an understanding between them, their mutual crush. Well, at least it had been mutual.

So Dick thought saying he had been hanging out with the police commissioner's daughter was maybe a bad idea.

"I... Haven't been anywhere...?"

"Don't!" Her hands curled into fists. "You think I haven't noticed you distancing yourself from me- from all of us? Even your parents! Please, we can help you. Just explain to me what's going on!"

Explain what was going on? How on earth was he supposed to explain what was going on? The whole world felt wrong, and living in a world that felt wrong hurt a lot. In the circus it was at its worst. Every step he took, every sound he made, it felt as if it should not have existed.

The only thing that felt right in this

world was Barbara, and Commissioner Gordon. He couldn't explain that.

 _I'll find my way back again._

"I'm sorry. I can't tell you," he said half-heartedly.

Raya's eyes flashed dangerously for a second, and then returned back to normal- but maybe just slightly, slightly sadder.

"I apologise for bothering you," she said, voice tense. For what seemed like the thousandth time in the past two weeks, she stormed away.

Dick sighed. He had long stopped feeling guilty for hurting Raya, because it wasn't that he meant to. He just couldn't help it.

Because something was still missing.

Still, though, it would've been nice to be able to talk to her. She wasn't entirely forgotten.

 _But everyone else is._

"Gather round, everyone!" Mr. Haly's voice echoed through the Big Top. "Tonight is the night! This is our first show in Gotham, so everyone do their best!"

A cheer rose up among the gathering crowd, and Dick couldn't help but smile.

He loved his family.

But, as the lights dimmed and the crowd dispersed, he couldn't help thinking that it was the wrong family to love.

* * *

"Dick?"

He turned and grinned. "Hey, Babs."

Her nose crinkled. It was five minutes before the show, and the audience had started pouring in by the dozens. The audience, of course, included Barbara and her father. She shook her head at his costume.

"A leotard? Doesn't it get cold?"

"Hey, it's comfortable," he argued. "It's good for acrobatics."

"Yeah, well, if you're trying to be dorky might as well add a cape."

It was his turn to be disgusted. "Capes are so bad for acrobatics, might as well deliberately trip yourself up."

"Unless you're good enough."

"Which I'm not."

She shrugged, smiling. "We'll see."

"Attention, ladies and gentlemen, please head back to your seats. The show is about to begin."

"See you on the trapeze!" She grinned, waving as she headed to where her father was sitting.

Dick smiled slightly and took his place in the wings of the stage. His mom and dad were both in costume, bright smiles plastered on their face.

"You ready, son?" His dad asked him.

He looked out into the spotlight. "Ready," he said confidently.

The show began as it usually did. The elephants (including Dick's favourite, Elinor) performed tricks to the oohing and aahing of the crowd. Then came a whole host of tightly-packed acts, from the contortionist to the strong man to Seraphina's juggling act. The Daring Twins did an impressive diving show, and Pedro the Dwarf did his classic comedic act.

And then it was their turn.

They walked up to the trapeze, the three of them, The Flying Graysons, but as Dick looked up at the ladder to climb he suddenly felt like throwing up.

Not nerves. It was not nervousness.

It was total, complete fear.

"And now, ladies and gentlemen, time for a show-stopper! The amazing Flying Graysons will perform for you today, without any safety net!"

Why did that scare him? They never have a net.

 _No... I can't do this again. Never again._

"Alright, Dickie, let's do this," his mom whispered encouragingly.

She leaped out first, hands outstretched, meeting the bar. He didn't fear for her then- he knew she couldn't fall until he was there with her.

Wait, fall? Nobody was going to fall. Nobody ever fell.

Then his dad jumped out, complete and utter faith in the flying-through-the-air-with-the-greatest-of-ease, flipping, twirling like ballet in the sky. And Dick's stomach was also dancing.

"Now!" His father cried, and Dick grasped outwards for his hand.

They connected, and now they were all on the trapeze, swinging, hopping from one swing to another. And for a while, Dick did okay.

But he couldn't stop the screaming. It filled his ears and sounded like chaos. It was his voice, he was screaming, screaming for them-

"No! NO!"

And now he was screaming out loud, and his hand slipped.

And he was falling.

Falling...

* * *

 _"No..."_

 _In this vision, he was crying. He was kneeling on the floor, on something sticky and wet. It was blood. He looked up to see where it was coming from._

 _"Mom? Dad?"_

 _It was them. It was so clear, so vivid. And Dick knew this was what really happened, their faces turned to the sky. The acid. Anthony Zucco._

 _And a man, walking towards him._

 _"It's going to be okay," he said. A chill crept up his spine. It was the same man in the other scene. "You're going to be okay."_

 _"Who... who are you?"_

 _"My name is-"_

"-baby, my baby, oh!"

Dick woke up.

He was staring at a blank ceiling, undecorated yet immaculately clean. There was a soft feeling, a blanket, covering his body.

And something very tight squeezing his hand.

"Dick? Honey?"

"Ughh..." He felt strange. "Mom?"

"Oh thank goodness," his mother sighed.

He tried to sit up. "What happened?"

"You fell. Oh, you're so lucky you didn't- so lucky-" she dissolved into tears.

Dick flinched as he looked at her. A deep seated memory of her dead face, stronger than any dream, passed in front of his eyes. He felt bike rise up his throat.

"Mom?"

"Yes?"

"I- I want to be alone."

There was a brief flash of hurt, like Raya's. It stabbed him as well. "O-of course. I'll tell your father you're awake- and that girl as well, I suppose."

That girl? "Barbara? Would you um... send her in?"

The confusion on his mothers face was painstakingly evident. She must think Dick chose a random girl over being with her- and it was a little like that, but not entirely.

"Anything... you want, sweetie."

A second later, Barbara crashed through the doors, red hair flying wildly behind her.

"Dick!" She cried as she ran towards him. "Are you okay? What happened?! They said you'd never done that before-"

"Barbara," he interrupted. "I need to talk to you."

"What?" She folded her hands on her lap, a habit that she had kept from the first time they met. Not a few weeks ago.

Much, much longer.

 _I'm remembering._

"You've been having visions... Haven't you?"

"Visions?" Her eyes widened. "How did you- what did you-"

"I've been having them too."

Her hands clasped and unclasped. "How... I mean, when I saw you, I knew... A few days ago I woke up different. Or, maybe, the world woke up different. And everything was so unfamiliar..."

"Except me."

She hesitated, then nodded. "What does that mean?"

Dick swung his legs over the bed so he was directly facing her. "I think we're in the wrong world, or the wrong timeline. I fell... because I remembered seeing my parents die. I remember it, Barbara. It happened. I know it did."

She bit her lip. "I know... Some nights I wake up and I'm crying. And my dad comes to check on me, but I'm screaming, just screaming one thing over and over again: 'I can't feel my legs. I can't feel my legs.' And I know that I didn't dream it... Somewhere, it was real. But we can't be the only ones, can we?"

"... No. I don't think we're alone." Dick looked into Barbara's face. "I think the Gotham City vigilante is the key to this. We need to meet him, get to talk to him-"

"Stop saying that."

"I know it's a strange plan, Babs, but I believe-"

She waved her hands. "I don't mean it's a bad plan. Just stop saying 'he'."

"...What?"

"Didn't you know?" She raised an eyebrow. "Gotham City's vigilante is a _girl_."

 _Not everything is lost._

* * *

 **Hey everyone! I'd like to thank all those that reviewed, especially IncomingAlbatross and AlyssPotter- your reviews are much appreciated! I'd also like to say that if you're thinking the vigilante is a gender-swapped Bruce- it's not. I'd rather not mislead you there. So thanks for reading, and like, follow, or review! Thanks to all those who have already listened to me- you really do keep me going. Bye! (For now...)**


	4. These Shadows In The Night

_Things are changing._

* * *

"What?"

There were some things that Dick couldn't entirely comprehend. Ever since a few weeks ago, when the wrongness came and settled, there were a lot of things that Dick hadn't been able to understand.

But this, of all of them, had definitely been the most surprising.

"Oh, so you think only boys can be vigilantes, do you?"

"What? No!" Dick blushed. "I only just... I thought that she would be a guy. I felt it."

"Well, she's not." Barbara brushed a lock of hair out of her eyes. "Do you still want to meet this... Batgirl?"

"Batgirl?" A flash of black and gold. "Yes, I do. I think... I think she may know something. Or at least remember something, like us."

"Great, well, I'll call your parents-"

"No! Please- um, please don't."

She frowned at him. "Why not?"

"They'll try to stop me, you know; they don't understand us. We have to do this ourselves."

She shook her head. "You must've hit your head harder than I thought," she mumbled. "You can't seriously think of running away from your family and friends to chase shadows in the night?! And what about my dad?"

 _He would understand._

"You don't have to come with me, you know."

Barbara gave him a look. "Yes I do. If I didn't have to, I wouldn't do it."

"Then we have to do this ourselves," he gulped. "We can't let them stop us."

And he couldn't get Raya's angry expression out of his mind, and his mom's hurt one. Maybe it was for the best that he left them- until he figured it all out.

Then, and only then, could he come back home.

"So, what, are we just going to climb out the window? Sneak around like we're vigilantes ourselves?"

Dick grinned. "Doesn't sound like such a bad idea."

"You're an idiot, Boy Wonder," she teased.

"Boy Wonder?"

"What," she frowned, "does it sound wrong?"

"No. No, it sounds... it sounds right."

She smiled a little, but her full grin was interrupted by the presence of voices behind the door. Their heads shot up immediately.

"We have to get going," he whispered urgently. "Open the windows!"

Barbara unlatched the pane and opened it wide. The cool wind of night breezed through, the soft glow of stars spreading through the darkness.

"Dick? Barbara?" called voices from beyond the door.

"Wait," she said, pausing. "What if they think I kidnapped you or something?"

"Don't think about that."

"Right. Just don't think about it."

He held out a hand to her. "Are you ready?"

Slowly, she put her hand in his, their fingers intertwining. "No."

And they slipped into the night.

* * *

"...Robinson Avenue. Robbery in progress."

Batgirl turned to the direction of the crime. Slipping her radio into her belt, she leaped off the roof and landed on the fire escape.

Her black hair flew in the wind like wildfire. Brushing it behind her ear, she spread her cape out and glided across the shadowy streets of Gotham.

She had work to do.

* * *

"I spy with my little eye... something beginning with 'i'."

Barbara rolled her eyes. "Idiot?"

"Hey!"

They were walking along a dark alleyway. Although they had tried to find the vigilante of Gotham, for some reason, they kept failing to find crime. It was as disappointing as it was hilarious- of course, when you go looking for trouble, it doesn't find you.

They turned into Robinson Avenue, where the streetlights flickered in the growing night. Dick shivered a little.

"So, what is it?"

"What?"

"What does 'i' stand for?"

Sheepishly, Dick replied, "I don't remember."

Before Barbara could react, a giant cloud of fire bloomed from the Robinson Bank. Dick instinctively threw Barbara down, both lying on the floor as chunks of debris flew everywhere. The sky filled with ashes.

"What was that?" She asked, voice filled with panic.

He looked up warily and stood, stumbling slightly. A large chunk of rock had narrowly missed them by an inch.

"You- you stay here," he instructed. "I'll check it out."

She grabbed his arm. "If you're going," she warned, "no way in hell are you going alone."

They started running towards the site of the explosion. Robinson Bank's door lay blasted open on its hinges, the walls around it crumbling to dust. The roof, sloped upwards to the moon, now contained a gaping hole through which various screams could be heard.

A black shadow flittered and went through the hole.

"Was that her?"

Dick sucked in a breath. "I'm not sure. We have to get closer."

Making their way around the debris carefully, they arrived at the broken front doors of the bank.

 _Everything's broken._

A loud thud sounded, followed by a low moan of pain.

"Oh god, please don't, I didn't-"

One of the thieves was lying against a pillar. Her lip was busted, hair matted with blood.

"No lying."

Above her stood Batgirl. Her cape fluttered slightly.

"No, have mercy, it's just-"

A solid punch landed on her jaw, an effective silencer. Batgirl had only time to tie up the criminal before sounds of fighting broke out in the back of the bank.

"Should... should we help her?" Barbara whispered.

Suddenly, a pitiful cry filled the air. Dick ran towards the source of it.

"No," a woman was moaning. Her leg was caught underneath a support beam. "No, no, no!"

"Shh," Dick soothed, "it's okay, ma'am. We'll get you out of here."

"No, oh no, have to get back home, my boy-"

"It's alright." Barbara knelt down beside Dick. "I'm Barbara, and this is Dick. Will you tell us your name?."

"C-Catherine. My name's Catherine."

"Alright, Miss Catherine, I need you to stay calm and we'll lift this beam. Can you do that?"

She nodded her tear-streaked face and held back a sob. Dick shimmied his hands underneath the beam, making sure not to touch her blood-stained leg, and heaved it upwards. The strength seemed to come from a well deep within him, and, unbidden, a memory-but-not-a-memory flashed in his mind.

 _"It's too hard."_

 _He sat down on the bench, arms wrapped around his knees. "I can't do it."_

 _"Why can't you do it, chum?"_

 _Dick looked up at the man who mattered the most to him in this very wide world. His face was blurry. "Because I'm not strong enough."_

 _"You are always strong enough, Dick."_

 _"Not this time."_

 _The man knelt down to his height, and they were face to face. "Do you think I would ask you to do this if I thought you weren't strong enough?"_

 _"No," Dick murmured._

 _"Then you are strong enough to do it. Because I believe you are."_

 _"But what if... what if one day you're not there, to believe in me?"_

 _The man put his arms around Dick. "I will always be right next to you, even if it seems like I'm not. And I will always believe in you. You will always be strong enough."_

Dick startled himself out of the dream, moving the beam over Catherine's leg and dropping it immediately. His hands felt numb.

"Oh, thank you, thank you!" The woman cried.

"I need you to relax still, Catherine," Barbara explained. "You leg is bleeding heavily. We will have to bandage it up for you, okay?"

She nodded wordlessly, tears streaming out. Dick let out a breath and sat on the floor.

"You are just full of surprises," Barbara smiled.

He ripped off a part of his shirt. "Use this."

Slowly, the woman's crying died down. At a closer look, Dick noticed that Catherine was sickeningly thin, bones poking out at all angles.

And the smell... the smell of dried blood, and perfume, and something else.

 _I tried to make him forget that smell, but he couldn't. It was how she died..._

"Thank you for saving me, but I have to go," Catherine mumbled.

Barbara shook her head. "You can't possibly go anywhere with your leg like that, I'm afraid."

"No! My boy, my baby, and my husband, what would he do-"

"Okay, okay, calm down." Dick sighed. "How about if we help you get back home?"

"You would? Really?"

Dick laughed. "Of course we would. Our business..." He looked towards the tied-up criminal. "...It can wait."

They slowly tried to stand her up.

"Babs, take her arm-"

"Slowly, easy now-"

Eventually, they managed to get her to cling to their arms, and made very very slow progress along Gotham. But progress nonetheless.

"So..." Dick searched for a conversation. "How long have you lived here in Gotham, Miss Catherine?"

"Just Catherine, please." She'd seemed to have cheered up a great deal. "I've lived here all my life. Oh, the things you see..."

"What do you know about Batgirl?" Barbara inquired.

Catherine's face scrunched up. "Oh, that nasty little girl that likes to play dress up? She's horrible, always bothering Willis at work."

"...Forgive my intrusion, but what exactly does Willis- um, your husband, right? Yeah, great- what does your husband do?"

"Well, he-" she gave a little squeal. "He's right there!"

A haggard man, lean cut and dirty, started walking towards them. He had big, powerful strides, like a soldier. He smelled of fresh blood and fire.

"Katie!" He boomed, like a stereo, "who are these children?"

"Hello, Willis-"

"Mr. Todd."

Dick shifted uncomfortably. "Mr. Todd, I'm Dick and this is Barbara. We saved your wife from an explosion in Robinson Bank, and she damaged her leg, so we walked her back home."

Mr. Todd did not seem that interested in him, but the way he eyed Barbara made him want to puke.

"Come right in, then," he graciously- venomously- greeted. He opened a rotting wooden door and lead them through.

The house was only a room, really, and not a very nice one. In a corner were three beds, stained with what Dick could only imagine was dirt and pee. There was one window that looked out into a dark and shady alleyway, hinges rusting. There was a battered and sad-looking sofa facing a crackling T.V. The only other place was a curtained off area, which he assumed was the toilet.

"Sit, sit!" Catherine jabbered happily, to which Dick and Barbara sat down promptly. Both felt embarrassed, as one often is when they don't realise they had taken things for granted.

"The brat's working," Mr. Todd grunted, taking a seat next to Barbara.

"Your son works?" For some reason Dick had pictured Catherine's son to be very young.

 _His youth was taken away from him._

"Yes," she hummed proudly. "He works with his daddy."

Barbara and Dick exchanged uneasy looks. The whole place reeked of crime without punishment, and worse- of punishment without crime.

Who could have raised a child here...?

A knock came on the door. It was loud and hurried, and Dick couldn't help but smile.

He remembered that knock, late at night, when he was in his apartment and not expecting a visitor. And he'd come in, wide eyed, maybe bad dreams or maybe something else. But just as he walked through the door he'd just relax and know that Dick would never let anyone hurt him.

And that was how he came in this time, as well.

"Jason!" Catherine cried happily.

Jason Todd brushed his red hair out of his eyes and grinned.

"I'm home."

* * *

 _We never really lose each other._

* * *

 **Hey guys! I hope you enjoyed this latest chapter of As Fate Would Have It, and if you did please leave a like/follow/review! Thanks so much to all your continuous support, and well, that's all I have to say for now.**

 **I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoy writing it.**

 **Thanks so much!**


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